Selling an A/1, A/8, A/9 home in Italy: the buyer's tax bill

If your home is registered in the catasto under A/1, A/8, A/9, the three luxury categories, no buyer from a private seller can use Italy's first-home relief on it. A buyer who would otherwise qualify pays 9% registration tax instead of 2%, 2% tax on the mortgage instead of 0.25%, and, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, ILIA every year even living there.

On our example villa that is €43,683 more in the first year for the buyer. For a buyer who would never qualify anyway, such as a non-resident buying a second home, the category changes almost nothing.

In short

• Three categories: A/1 (abitazioni di tipo signorile), A/8 (villas), A/9 (castles and palaces of eminent artistic or historic merit).
• The category decides, not the size: between private parties a 250 m² flat in A/2 can have the relief, a smaller one in A/1 cannot.
• Registration tax: 9% instead of 2% of the cadastral value, for buyers who would qualify for the relief.
• Mortgage: 2% substitute tax instead of 0.25%.
• ILIA in Trieste: 0.60% a year on a main home in these categories, less €200; other main homes pay nothing.
• Rare in Trieste: 997 homes out of 126,831 in the city.

Which homes are in a luxury category?

The cadastral register (catasto) gives every home a category. The three that matter here are A/1, homes of the signorile type; A/8, homes in villas; A/9, castles and palaces of eminent artistic or historic merit.

In the city of Trieste they are few. These are the revenue agency's figures for the stock in 2025:

Category, city of Trieste	Homes	Average rendita	Average cadastral area
A/1 signorile	776	€1,842	224 m²
A/8 villas	220	€3,568	427 m²
A/9 castles and palaces	1	—	—
All homes, A/1 to A/9	126,831

Averages are our division of the agency's totals. Luxury categories are 0.79% of the city's homes. In the rest of the province there are 13 more in A/1, 94 in A/8 and 2 in A/9.

Does a large flat count as a luxury home?

Not for a sale between private parties. Since 2014 the first-home relief on registration tax excludes the three categories, and nothing else: size or a second lift per staircase no longer matter. The revenue agency's circular 2/E of 2014 says so.

The old test still applies when the buyer pays VAT, buying from a builder. There, a 1969 decree defines luxury by features: for example, more than 240 m² of floor area, or a pool larger than 80 m².

So a 250 m² flat in a period building, registered A/2, can be sold to a buyer who claims the relief. A smaller flat in A/1 cannot.

What does the category cost your buyer?

Example. Assumptions, ours: a villa with a rendita of €3,500, a buyer who is resident, or will become resident within the time the law allows, and a €500,000 mortgage. The second column shows the same rendita in category A/7 (villini), bought with the relief. Rates and coefficients are the law's; the amounts are our arithmetic.

	A/8	Same rendita, A/7, first home
Taxable value of the deed	€3,500 × 1.05 × 120 = €441,000	€3,500 × 1.05 × 110 = €404,250
Registration tax	9%: €39,690	2%: €8,085
Mortgage and cadastral taxes	€50 + €50	€50 + €50
Mortgage substitute tax on €500,000	2%: €10,000	0.25%: €1,250
ILIA, a full year as main home	€588,000 × 0.60% = €3,528, less €200: €3,328	exempt

The difference is €31,605 on the deed, €8,750 on the mortgage and €3,328 a year in ILIA: €43,683 in the first year, counting a full year of ILIA. The table isolates the effect of the category.

The taxable value assumes the buyer asks for the cadastral value as the tax base (prezzo-valore), as private buyers of homes may. For more on the deed, see purchase taxes in Italy.

Which buyers does it not affect?

Those who would pay 9% anyway. A buyer who does not meet the first-home conditions, such as residence or work in the comune, pays 9% whatever the category, and in Trieste ILIA at 1.06% on a home that is not a main home, or 0.70% on the one second home declared on the regional portal.

For a villa on the Costiera bought as a second home from abroad, the category is therefore close to neutral. It weighs on the buyer who moves to Trieste. When you price a luxury-category home, it helps to know which of the two your likely buyer is.

The relief also has its own deadlines for the buyer: see first-home relief deadlines.

Can the category be changed before selling?

A variation (DOCFA) filed by a technician proposes the category and rendita; the proposal stays in the records until the office sets the final rendita, within twelve months of filing.

The revenue agency's Friuli Venezia Giulia office puts it plainly: the category follows the use that the unit's construction features give it, not its current use. Ask a technician before counting on a different category.

What changes for a buyer who lets it out?

The 1998 lease law excludes A/1, A/8, A/9 homes from its rules, except for leases signed on the agreed-rent model (canone concordato). Other leases on them follow only the civil code.

What to do now

• Download the visura and check the category.
• If it is A/1, A/8, A/9, work out the buyer's taxes with and without the relief.
• If the building has changed since it was classified, ask a technician whether the record still matches.
• Think about who your buyer is likely to be: someone moving in, or a second-home buyer.
• Keep the cadastral plans ready: the deed needs a statement that they match the property.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get the prima casa relief on an A/8 villa in Italy?

No. The first-home relief on registration tax excludes categories A/1, A/8, A/9, whoever the buyer is.

What is cadastral category A/1 in Italy?

Homes of the signorile type. Together with A/8 (villas) and A/9 (castles and palaces of eminent merit) it is one of the three categories treated as luxury.

Do I pay ILIA on an A/1 main home in Trieste?

Yes: 0.60% a year of the cadastral value, less €200 for the main home. Other main homes are exempt.

Is a flat over 240 m² a luxury home in Italy?

Between private parties, only if its category is A/1, A/8, A/9. The 240 m² threshold matters only when the buyer pays VAT.

Where this guide stops

It does not cover buying from builders with VAT, listed buildings, inheritance and gift taxes, or how a technician classifies a home. It gives no value for any specific property. For the deed, the notary; for taxes, the commercialista. Annual costs are in owning in Trieste.

If you own a villa or a signorile flat in Trieste, the category on the visura shapes who can buy it and what they pay. We work out those numbers for every buyer profile before we set a price. Request a confidential valuation, in English or German.

These are the rules, not tax advice: on your position the commercialista, and for the deed the notary, have the last word. Write to richieste@triestevillas.com or WhatsApp +39 331 8940822.